Facile preparation of hydrocarbon fuel-soluble nano-catalyst and its novel application in catalytic combustion of JP-10

Hexanethiol monolayer protected palladium clusters (Pd MPCs), which can be well dispersed in hydrocarbon fuels at nanometer scale (<1.5 nm) were synthesized and characterized by TGA, DTA, NMR, FTIR, TEM and microcoulomb sulfur analysis. The particle size and thermal stability of Pd MPCs were sensitive to the thiol/Pd mole ratio in the initial reaction mixture. Moreover, Pd MPC was introduced to improve the combustion of JP-10 (exo-tetrahydrodicyclopentadiene). The results showed that the addition of 50 ppm catalyst in JP-10 could reduce the temperature required to initiate combustion by about 240 °C.